Christopher John Stephens

Boston March 28, 2022 0

The Warmth of Community Strength: How Organizations Are Helping Solve Boston’s Home Heating Oil Crisis

The worst kept secret for most homeowners, renters, or landlords today is that energy prices were on their way up well before Russia invaded Ukraine. It’s raised prices on everything from Uber rides to children’s toys. The current (as of March 21, 2022) price of oil at above $110 a barrel is down slightly from this month’s high of $130. Gas to run your automobile is precariously priced from a low of $4 a gallon to a high of $6 […]

Jobs February 28, 2022 0

Five Steps to Getting the Job You Want

The most recent Federal job market report showed a strong economy rebuilding itself in spite of Covid waves. Employers added nearly half a million jobs in January 2022. Even more surprising to many, the restaurant and hotel industry has started adding jobs. President Biden noted, with the usual flair seen from Chief Executives, “America’s job machine is going stronger than ever.” What does this mean? We can certainly be comforted by numbers by the definitive objectivity of numbers, but there’s […]

Education February 15, 2022 0

The First Step is the Hardest: How ESOL Classes can Save Lives

Adult education can be a difficult trail for any of us to start. Whether we’re 18 or 80, the path is not always clearly visible. There are brambles in the way, overgrown bushes, fallen trees, and strange creatures jumping out at various moments to keep us on our toes. No matter how equipped we might feel we are, there’s never any guarantee we’ll be in the same shape at the end of the trip as we were when we started […]

Education August 21, 2020 0

End of semester essay: Writing your life story one page at a time

One of the more difficult assignments in my English classes comes near the end of each semester. Sometimes I call it a “transformative” essay, other times “reflective,” and other times a standard “autobiography.” In three pages, students write the simple story of their lives. Who were they yesterday? Who are they now? Who do they plan to be tomorrow? In my ESOL classes, the assignment takes a different variation. What was their relationship with written and spoken English as a […]

Christopher John Stephens

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